Park Chan-dae and Yoo Jeong-bok escalate election law dispute, trading accusations of false statements and counter-lawsuits

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[Financial News, Incheon = Han Gap-su] Park Chan-dae, the DPK candidate for Incheon mayor, and People Power Party candidate Yoo Jeong-bok are clashing head-on as each side raises allegations that the other violated the Public Official Election Act.
According to the Park Chan-dae and Yoo Jeong-bok campaigns on the 30th, both sides are accusing each other of false statements and have filed complaints, intensifying the late-stage election battle.
Park's camp is alleging that Yoo failed to report virtual asset holdings under his spouse's name and is claiming possible violations of the Public Official Election Act and the Public Service Ethics Act.
In a fact-check document released on the 28th, Park's camp said the Supreme Court precedent Yoo cited during a TV debate, Supreme Court Decision 2009Do5945, means that assets must be reported when a public official directly manages an account under another person's name. It added that the ruling was unrelated to Yoo's claim.
Earlier, Yoo had said during the debate that "even if coins are registered under a public official's name, they are not subject to reporting if the actual owner is someone else."
Park's camp responded that the virtual assets under Yoo's spouse's name were subject to reporting because there were signs that they had been actually managed, even if they were transferred to an overseas exchange. It also argued that if false asset reporting occurred, it could constitute the crime of false statement publication under the Public Official Election Act.
The DPK side is especially alleging concealment of assets, saying about 21,000 virtual assets under Yoo's spouse's name were omitted from the candidate's asset disclosure and that the assets were transferred to Binance, an overseas exchange, in December last year.
It also claimed there may have been an intentional attempt to avoid reporting, citing a recorded phone call between a virtual asset manager and Yoo's spouse in which they reportedly discussed that "if it is brought into the country, it becomes subject to reporting."
Yoo's camp, meanwhile, filed a complaint with the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency on the 29th, accusing Park of false statement publication over his claim to be a descendant of an independence activist.
In a statement, Yoo's camp said Park had long used his status as a descendant of an independence activist as a political asset, but that it was later confirmed he is only a collateral relative in the 22nd degree. It argued that this was an act of deceiving voters.
The camp said that a 22nd-degree collateral relationship cannot, under common social understanding, be regarded as a descendant relationship. It added that Park had used this for the past decade as if it were part of his political identity, misleading voters.
It further stated that Park had gained political support based on the image of being a descendant of an independence activist and built his political career through it. That, it said, amounts to false statement publication under Article 250 of the Public Official Election Act.
Yoo's side also pointed out that Park recently changed his wording during campaign speeches when referring to independence activist Lee Sang-ryong, shifting from "our grandfather" to "some person." It criticized the change as deceptive behavior that varies depending on the situation.
Park's camp explained that the expression had been used in terms of family ties and historical connection rather than the degree of kinship.
As both sides accuse each other of election law violations, the Incheon mayoral race is increasingly shifting away from policy competition and toward a battle over the candidates' qualifications and moral integrity.
kapsoo@fnnews.com Han Gap-su Reporter